Same People, Different Era
by Between The Clouds
Summary: What isn't Ayasegawa taichou telling Madarame taichou? Other characters include Keigo, Mizuiro, Tatsuki, and Hisagi. If you're wondering what they're doing there, you'll just have to read to find out!


Same People, Different Era

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A young shinigami ran through the seireitei, tears streaming down his face. He rarely cried like this anymore, but this was big. He needed to get there, and _fast_. The man ran through the alleys speedily, slamming into barrels, buildings, and other shinigami. At last, he reached the tenth division barracks and came to a slide in front of the man who was waiting for him.

The older man looked down at him, unsmiling. "Asano-san, you were promoted to fifth seat just yesterday, and yet you are late for our meeting. Do you wish to be demoted already?"

At this, Asano Keigo immediately stopped his stream of tears, and turned to face the man. "Ah, Ayasegawa taichou! I've been looking for you! I didn't mean to be late, but last night I was so happy about being promoted, I got a little carried away and partied too much. Then this morning, I woke up with a hangover and it was late. I got here as soon as I could." He said this all in one breath, and finished gasping for air. After he could breathe again, Keigo put his hand to his heart and stood straight up, a fierce and determined look on his face. "It won't happen again, I promise you. I will show you that giving me this position wasn't a mistake!"

His taichou chuckled at his subordinate. "Knowing you, it will undoubtedly happen again, Asano-san. But I know that despite your laziness, hysterics, and complete lack of tact, you are a fine shinigami." Keigo sulked a little at this, but brightened when his taichou called him a "fine shinigami". Just then, Ayasegawa's wisteria eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! It's already one o'clock! We'd better get started! Follow me, Asano-san. Remember, you still have a lot of work to do today. Cramming it all into such a short block of time will really test your speed."

Hearing this, Keigo tried in vain to hide his sulk. As they passed the sixth seat of the tenth division, Kojima Mizuiro, the small dark-haired man gave Keigo a look was half-amused, half-pitying. "Don't worry, Asano-san. It won't be so bad. Anyways, last night's party was amazing! Let me know when you're having another!" Keigo gave his best friend a death glare and continued to follow their taichou into his office.

**ONE HOUR LATER**

"Well, that about sums it up, Asano-san. We've covered your duties, what others expect of you, and your restrictions. I think that's it. You may go now." Ayasegawa taichou brushed a long black strand of hair out of his face with an exaggerated movement. As Keigo stood up, he smiled at him. "Good luck." Keigo smiled back with gratitude and walked across the room to the door.

Before he could reach the doorknob, however, his taichou stopped him. "Ah, there's something else I almost forgot about!" The younger shinigami turned around expectedly. Ayasegawa taichou extended his index finger up into the air, as if to add something. "I noticed that your hairstyle is simply hideous, so I scheduled a hair appointment for tomorrow morning at nine for you. Think of it as a gift for being promoted. And also so I don't have to look at such a monstrosity anymore."

Most people would be shocked by his taichou's blunt and unwavering opinions about beauty, but Keigo was used to it. He just smiled warmly and nodded. "Thank you, taichou." With that, he was gone.

He found Mizuiro in the hall, carrying a stack of papers. "What's all this?" he asked, falling onto step beside his companion.

"Paperwork I need to deliver to the ninth squad." Mizuiro smiled. "I hope Kotetsu fuku-taichou is in her office! She's so womanly and has the most perfect curves."

Keigo rolled his eyes. "You mean Kiyone-san? She's taken, baka."

Mizuiro continued to smile. "Oh, that's not such a problem," he went on cheerfully. The other shinigami shook his head in disbelief, his light brown shaggy hair shaking with his head.

"You really have no set of morals, Mizuiro. She's definitely not interested. If she is, I'll pay for all your sake for a year. But that won't be happening, because, she's **not **going to be interested!"

As the two men walked together to the ninth squad barracks, Mizuiro's smile grew bigger and Keigo grew more irritated. The dark-haired shinigami turned towards his best friend with a knowing smile. "How about the woman in your life? Have you made any progress with her?"

Keigo blushed a little. "Y-you have no idea what you're talking about! There is no woman in my life! I, Asano Keigo, am a free agent!"

"Okay, I believe you," Mizuiro conceded. Then, after a few minutes, "I think she likes you." He gave his friend a sideways glance.

At this, Keigo perked up a little. "Really? Wait, how do you know? You're just making it up!" His voice rose in volume, and Mizuiro grinned in victory.

"No woman if your life, huh, Asano-san? Heh heh."

"Don't call me that!" Keigo screamed. "So you just made the whole thing up?"

The smaller shinigami smiled again and looked down. "No. She smiles at you like she never smiles at me or anybody else. She asks about you in concern whenever you're off fighting, but she hides it with a smile. She hits you and yells at you because she doesn't want you to know her feelings. Really, Keigo, you must notice it too. Why else would she always be the second one to visit you after you get injured, after me?"

Keigo just muttered something that sounded like, "And then she hits me and blames me for getting injured" and continued walking. "Oh," he stopped in front of the ninth division building. "We're here." The two shinigami walked to the office the taichou and fuku-taichou shared. Mizuiro knocked sharply, and they heard a "Come in!"

Hisagi taichou was leaning back in his chair, trying to balance his pen on his nose. Once they came in, he immediately put his chair on all four legs and sat up straight. The pen clattered to the floor. "Is there something you need help with—" he began, but when he saw Mizuiro, a look of irritation crossed his face and he just said, "Kotetsu fuku-taichou isn't here right now."

The newly appointed fifth seat gave the sixth seat a victorious grin. Mizuiro ignored it and sighed dejectedly. "Oh, that's too bad. It would be nice to see her again, but we're actually here to deliver these." He walked over to Hisagi taichou's desk and plopped the papers in front of him. "I hope it isn't too much trouble. It's always a pleasure to see you, Hisagi taichou. Well, we'd better be off now. Have a nice day!"

Mizuiro smiled and waved at him as they left. Keigo waved as well and managed to say, "Bye, Hisagi taichou."

Once they were outside, Keigo turned on his friend and shouted gleefully. "She wasn't there! She wasn't even there! This shows I was right! I WAS RIGHT!"

"Asano-san, you're making a scene," Mizuiro protested. Still, Keigo screamed in victory all the way back to the tenth division barracks, which Mizuiro responded by tuning him out for the remainder of their walk. As they neared the tenth division building, Keigo finally stopped yelling and looked up to see their taichou sitting on the porch and drinking tea. His haori lay beside him. Like always, his hair and robes fell perfectly. He looked so serene and noble; Keigo could hardly believe it was him.

"Wow," Keigo murmured. "I can't believe Ayasegawa taichou used to be a member of the battle-loving eleventh squad." Mizuiro said nothing, but looked just as stupefied as his comrade.

Keigo and Mizuiro stepped onto the porch beside their taichou and stared at him for a few seconds. "What is it, taichou?" Keigo eventually asked him.

Ayasegawa taichou didn't look at them as he responded. "I'm just admiring the scenery. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" His subordinates glanced out at the perfectly blue sky, the leaves from the trees shining in the sun. Cherry blossoms fell gracefully around them. It wasn't as remarkable as a sunset or a meteor shower, but there was something about the beautiful simplicity of it that touched them. For what seemed like hours, the three of them just sat and watched the view.

"Hey," Ayasegawa taichou suddenly began, turning to the other two. "Shouldn't you guys be working or something?"

"Oi, Yumichika!" Just then, they all looked up to see the eleventh taichou, Madarame Ikkaku, walking over to them. Behind him was the fifth seat of the eleventh division, Arisawa Tatsuki. Both of them had smiles on their faces; Madarame taichou's was wild and crazy, Tatsuki's was small and confident.

Yumichika smiled. "Ikkaku," he said, at the same time Keigo said "Madarame taichou" and Keigo said "Arisawa-san". Yumichika motioned for them to sit down with a graceful sweep of his hand. Ikkaku sat across from Yumichika, while Tatsuki sat across from Keigo and Mizuiro. Upon seeing Keigo, a wide grin spread across her face.

"So I heard you finally got promoted," she yelled, giving him a playful punch on the shoulder. "Sure took ya long enough!"

The man narrowed his brown eyes at her. "Sh-shut up! You and Mizuiro may have gotten promoted a month before me, but I out-rank him and I'm equal to you!" He glared at her taichou. "Eleventh squad sure suits you. I mean, you just couldn't _live_ if you didn't get to beat people up!" he added sourly.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Tatsuki countered angrily. The two continued to fight as Mizuiro watched on, amused. Ikkaku glanced at them and smiled. Even though time passed and bonds were broken, the three of them had managed to stay together through all these years. Even the barrier between life and death couldn't keep them apart.

Sixty-five years ago, Asano Keigo and Kojima Mizuiro, both eighteen years old, died from a Hollow attack. They were sent to Rukongai curled up together. Ikkaku wasn't quite sure what part of Rukongai they grew up in, but they told him it wasn't too safe, but it wasn't too dangerous either. When they first arrived, they remembered their pasts. They remembered their friends, their favourite things, and the exact details of their deaths. But the older they got, the harder it was to retain the memories of their life in the living world. If you ask them, Keigo vaguely recalls an orange-haired dude, and Mizuiro definitely remembers a high school, but the one thing they remember clearly is each other. From as far back as either one could remember, the other was always there. Whatever bonds they had created in the living world with other people were broken, and for a long time, it was just Keigo and Mizuiro. In a lot of ways, it still was. Ikkaku smiled at how much they reminded him of himself and Yumichika (even though they really were quite different).

They decided to become shinigami one day, and met Arisawa Tatsuki (again, but none of them remember it) at the shinigami academy. She clashed with Keigo immediately, but somehow the three become close despite everything. Ikkaku watched them grow together and rise in ranks. Even though only Arisawa-san was his subordinate, he felt a strange sense of pride for all three of them. They all had an indescribable spirit that was mostly their own, but was slightly molded by hanging out with Kurosaki Ichigo (even if it was over six decades ago, and even if they didn't remember any of it).

Watching the three friends laugh together, Ikkaku suddenly banged his fist on the deck, heard enough to garner attention. "Hey! Since my fifth seat and your fifth seat are right here, why don't they battle! I wanna see how strong he is!" Yumichika just grinned and nodded.

Tatsuki faced Keigo and cracked her knuckles. "Alright! I'm going to kick your ass! You won't even know what hit you!"

The other man smirked and slid closer to her. "Are you sure you want to do that, Tatsuki-chan?" The dark haired girl blushed and raised a fist to hit him. "Why aren't you hitting me like you usually do?" Keigo taunted. "Could it be _that_ I have power over you? Tatsuki-chan, you're blushing!"

"I'm not really sure this is the best way to win her over," Mizuiro whispered to his friend. Keigo just smiled. When Tatsuki finally tried to punch him, he blocked her. This only served to anger Tatsuki further. Mizuiro sighed in exasperation.

"Ah, but I have an advantage, seeing as Ayasegawa taichou is much stronger than Madarame taichou!" Keigo suddenly announced.

Ikkaku turned to stone. _What?_

For once, Tatsuki didn't argue. Yumichika just fluffed his hair and regarded Ikkaku with those beautiful eyes of his. Ikkaku stared at everybody in disbelief. Where had this notion come from? Yumichika was strong. Ikkaku was the first to point this out. Maybe even stronger than him. But so much stronger than him that even fifth seats noticed it and took it as normal? All he managed to get out was a strangled, "What?"

Arisawa-san sighed, obviously unhappy about having to relay the information to her taichou. "It's just one of those things. You, taichou, excel in melee fighting. But Ayasegawa taichou excels in melee _and_ kido. Although you both use shunpo quite regularly, Ayasegawa taichou seems to be significantly faster. Not to mention, with melee skills alone, Ayasegawa taichou is easily your equal. You are a good fighter, but I don't think you can stand a chance against everything."

"Also, Ayasegawa taichou's shikai is way stronger than Madarame taichou's bankai. And well, Ayasegawa taichou's _bankai _is just… wow!" Keigo added.

Ikkaku growled at this. "Wait a minute! His shikai is just four blades! It's cool, but how is it so much cooler than mine?"

The three seated officers exchanged glances. "You mean Madarame taichou doesn't know?" Keigo asked incredulously.

Tatsuki stared in astonishment. "Wow, he must be the only person in the entire Seireitei not to know! And to think they're supposed to be best friends!"

"Madarame taichou really is dense," Mizuiro said.

"It's not like he _needs_ his zanpakuto's powers to fight or anything," Keigo defended. "He doesn't like to use it much. He likes to win a fight by strength alone. That's the kind of guy our taichou is."

Mizuiro nodded in agreement. "Madarame taichou really doesn't compare."

At last, Yumichika turned to Ikkaku. Instead of his wisteria eyes, they were a glowing azure_. What's going on?_ Ikkaku thought. "Would you like me to show you my true shikai form, Ikkaku?" he asked calmly, yet with a dangerous edge to it. Ikkaku backed away slowly, desperate to escape this horrible power.

"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

><p>"NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ikkaku screamed, rolling on his futon in fear. Just then, he hit his head on the wall and woke up. "What… was that?" he asked, staring up at the ceiling. "Oh, man, what a weird dream that was!"<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Yumichika wins! Poor Ikkaku, not even his own subordinates have any faith in him! Keigo needs more credit, seriously. I don't really care about the other two, but... Keigo needs to do something spectacular. Read and review for once!

**Disclaimer:** Kubo Tite (or is it Tite Kubo?) is the man behind Bleach. If it were me, I would explode with having to use so many characters.


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